


Laura Kinney's Long Day

by citrinesunset



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Field Trip, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 07:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17076389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrinesunset/pseuds/citrinesunset
Summary: When Laura agreed to help Kitty chaperone a field trip, she wasn't expecting it to be very hard. She definitely wasn't expecting it to turn into a battle.





	Laura Kinney's Long Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WierdAlienFantasies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WierdAlienFantasies/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this! I decided to set this pretty recently in comics continuity because I like Kitty running the school and Laura's adventures with her sister Gabby, but this doesn't require knowledge of any specific storylines or comics.

_6:00 AM_

 

Laura shuffled through the front door just as the sun was coming up. She headed straight to her bedroom and fell face-first on the bed, still wearing her boots and the clothes that had her own blood on them.

She was asleep for approximately two minutes when Gabby ran into the room, jumped up on the bed, and yelled "Field trip time!"

Laura didn't even open her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

The bouncing and the squeaking of the box spring came to a halt. "You didn't forget, did you? Man, Kitty will be so mad if we don't show up."

Damn. She _had_ forgotten.

Laura groaned. "Fine. I need a shower first."

Gabby let out a whoop and ran out of the room. Laura contemplated driving her claws into the pillow.

 

_7:30 AM_

 

Kitty could be persuasive sometimes. That was the only way Laura could explain how she agreed to chaperone a school field trip.

Not that she was complaining. Not really. The timing could have been better, but maybe having a mission that wouldn't involve her claws or regenerating from lethal injuries would be a nice change of pace. If she could handle having a little sister, she could handle a van full of kids. 

When Laura and Gabby arrived at the school, Kitty noticed right away that something was off.

"You look beat," Kitty said, looking her up and down. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'm fine. After the night I had last night, a bunch of students will be a breeze."

"What happened last night?"

"A little routine reconnaissance got more hands-on than I was expecting. It happens. So, where are we going?"

"The science museum. I thought we'd try to get there as soon as it opens so we'll have time before it gets busier. We'll need plenty of time to partk .We’ll save the gift shop for last. And then lunch. Thanks again for helping out. I really do appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. But can I ask why me? How hard is it to find a chaperone? These kids didn't scare away all the other teachers, did they?"

"No, the kids are great. But everyone else is either busy or working with the older students. Actually, Ororo is doing training exercises with a group of them this week, and some of the younger kids are jealous. I was hoping a field trip would keep them from feeling left out."

Laura looked at the group that was accumulating outside the front doors. They _were_ young. Twelve or thirteen, probably. She didn't even recognize many of them.

"We should be able to take two cars," Kitty said. "I can take six kids in the SUV, and you should be able to fit seven in the van."

The van in question was sitting in the driveway, and it looked old enough that it might have been purchased by Xavier himself. Maybe twenty years ago.

There were twelve students total. Thirteen counting Gabby, who wasn't about to pass up a chance to go on a field trip.

It seemed to take forever for the kids to be ready (two of them had to run back inside to get the money they wanted to bring for the gift shop). As soon as Kitty took a final headcount and insisted it was time to go, there was a mad dash for the two cars.

The group in the van included a boy with bright, lime-green eyes, a girl with webbed fingers and what appeared to be gills along the side of her neck, and five others whose mutations were not visible.

They made it perhaps a half mile before a dispute broke out over the radio station, and the dial turned on its own. Laura glanced in the rearview mirror.

"One of you has telekinesis, huh?"

No one answered her.

 

_11:30 AM_

 

Laura didn't even try to go into the crowded gift shop. Instead, she waited outside and leaned against a column.

From another direction, Gabby ran up holding something small and coppery in her hand.

"Look! They have a machine you can put a penny in, and it flattens it and puts a new design on it. See?"

Laura took the penny from her and turned it over a couple times. 

"Having fun?" she asked as she handed it back.

"You bet! Did you see the exhibit on echolocation?"

Laura could barely remember. The whole morning had been a blur, but not bad. The students seemed to be enjoying themselves. Kitty seemed to appreciate having backup. Laura could think of worse ways to spend her morning.

Kitty came out of the gift shop and walked over.

"I'm thinking we'll give them ten more minutes to look around, and then we'll head to lunch."

It took a little longer than that for everyone to make their way out into the lobby. Kitty did a headcount and frowned.

"Where's Rosalie?"

Everyone started to murmur and look around. The girl with the gills said, "I think she said she wasn't feeling well. She was going to go outside for some air."

Kitty sighed. "I thought I told everyone to stick to the buddy system. All right, let's head outside. Hopefully she's close by."

Laura was closest to the doors. As she got closer, she grew uneasy. She could hear yelling outside. When she opened the door, she didn't see Rosalie. What she did see stopped her in her tracks. 

"Uh, Kitty? I think we have a problem. A big one."

It was pandemonium outside, people running for shelter from the metal behemoth that hovered in the air.

Kitty rushed to Laura's side and spread her arms to keep the students back. "Where the hell did that Sentinel come from? What's it doing here?"

"Nothing good. Any sight of Rosalie?"

"No." Kitty turned to the students. "Go back inside. All of you. Don't come out until we tell you it's safe."

A few of the kids ran back into the building. A few stayed. The boy with the green eyes said, "But we can help!"

"No," Kitty said firmly. "You can help by telling everyone inside to seek shelter. Go!"

As soon as the kids were inside, Kitty turned on her comm device. While she started to call for backup, Laura scanned the area. For other threats. For things she could use to her advantage. Then she saw her—a small figure with long brown hair crouched behind a car. 

Rosalie.

The Sentinel saw her, too. It turned toward her and lifted an arm to shoot. Laura didn't give it a chance. Leaping in the air, she managed to catch herself on the Sentinel's arm and dig her claws in the elbow joint. The action barely hurt the Sentinel, but it knocked it off balance, giving Rosalie a chance to run for the safety of the building.

Laura held on and climbed up the Sentinel's arm. Down below, Kitty was yelling to her, but she couldn’t hear what she was saying. She managed to get up to the machine's shoulder, and she thrust her claws into a weak spot in its neck, blindly pulling at whatever wires she could find. Maybe it wasn't enough, but she wasn't going to stop until she at least slowed that thing down.

She was vaguely aware that the sky was getting darker. Thunder boomed, accompanied by the steady rumble of...a jet engine?

A figure appeared in the sky, flying above the Sentinel's head. Ororo's eyes glowed, and her hair floated around her like a halo.

"Laura," she yelled, "let go now."

Laura only had a second to understand. She pulled her claws free and leapt away as a bolt of lightning struck the Sentinel. The thing lashed out at her with a heavy metal arm, knocking her to the ground and sending a shock through her body. But it didn't matter. The last thing she saw was the Sentinel falling.

 

_Sometime later_

 

Laura woke up on her back on the asphalt. Several kids stood around her.

"She's alive!" one of them said.

"Of course she's alive," another said. "I told you—she can't die."

She sat up. Every muscle in her body ached, but she'd get better. She always did. 

The street was cordoned off with crime scene tape now. Kitty was having an animated conversation with someone who might have been from SHIELD. The Blackbird was in the street near the fallen Sentinel. There were new students on the scene—older ones, who must have been with Ororo when she got Kitty's call for help. Some of the younger ones were regaling them with the story of what happened. 

Rosalie offered Laura a bottle of water, and sheepishly said, "Thanks for helping me get away. I'm sorry for leaving on my own."

"Don't sweat it."

She wasn't always much of a team player, either. 

 

_6:00 PM_

 

It'd been a long day. After getting the students home, there'd been work to do. They had to make sure that the Sentinel was an isolated incident, and find out where it came from. But eventually, Kitty had made the executive decision of sending Laura home.

Laura objected, of course. But only a little bit.

While Laura unlocked the door, Gabby checked her pockets.

"Aw, man. I think I lost my penny."

"We'll get you another one," Laura said. She took a deep breath as she stepped into the quiet security of her apartment.

"Really?"

"Yes. But after I get some sleep."


End file.
